The Moto Guzzi National Owners Club (MGNOC) is an international club for owners of Moto Guzzi bikes and devotees of the marque. Created in the USA in the 1970s (when the Moto Guzzi Ambassador 750cc made its debut as the bike of choice of the Los Angeles police department), the club now has more than 3,200 members from 50 states, a number of Canadian provinces and other countries around the world. It also has a European division. The MGNOC organises rallies of all sizes: its top annual event is the “MGNOC National Rally”; the 2016 rally, the 45th, will be held in Oregon, from 23 to 25 June.
2015 MGNOC
The various clubs (in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin) organise meetings every month, usually on Saturday or Sunday, with lunch and brunch. Comradeship, friendship, devotion to the Italian marque: these are the distinguishing characteristics of the Guzzi bikers from America and elsewhere who belong to the national club directed by Frank Wedge. Through the newsletter and the website, fans swap technical information and tips on Moto Guzzi models, travel ideas, results of road tests on current and vintage models. The majority, says Frank Wedge, are active bikers who ride thousands of miles during the year.
“My wife and I organised our first national rally, and it was held north of Manhattan, in Kansas, in the summer of 1972. Over the next seventeen years, the rally was organised in Kansas. After that, it took place in West Virginia (1994), Arkansas (1995), Washington State (1996), Iowa (1997) and West Virginia (1998). In 1999 it was held in New Mexico, 20 miles south-east of Taos,” says Frank, who, with Dennis Sterlace, launched the idea of a club devoted to Moto Guzzi more than 45 years ago. Over the decades, the club has grown continually, keeping the Mandello eagle flying high in the USA.
INFO:
www.mgnoc.com
